Hawaiian Airlines lowers inter-island travel fares, adds new service to New Zealand

By Maureen O'Connell Jul 26, 2012

Hawaiian Airlineshas put in place a new fare structure for neighbor island travel that lowers ticket prices across all of its fare classes by 4 percent to 25 percent.

Under the new fare structure, the lowest fare for a one-way nonstop interisland flight (including taxes and mandatory federal fees) is $65 for travel from Honolulu to Kahului, Maui and Lihue, Kauai. However, there are a limited number of seats available at that price. The tally varies, depending on flight time and passenger load among other factors.

Also, according to a media release issued by Hawaiian Airlines last week, the airline’s parent company, Hawaiian Holdings, is seeking to acquire a turbo-prop aircraft with the aim of establishing a subsidiary carrier to serve routes not currently in Hawaiian’s neighbor island system.

The new fare structure complements additional neighbor island capacity and routes Hawaiian introduced earlier this year. Over the past year, Hawaiian has increased capacity by 13 percent and created a Maui hub to increase service between the Valley Isle, Kauai and the Big Island. The turbo-prop subsidiary would allow Hawaiian to further expand capacity with daily flights to rural areas. For more information about the fare structure, click here.

In other air travel news, Hawaiian Airlines has announced that it will begin offering new nonstop service between Honolulu and Auckland three days a week, beginning on March 13, 2013.

Hawaiian will be the only U.S. carrier flying into Auckland, and Hawaiian's new service will add more than 40,000 seats annually between Auckland and Hawaii.

In a media release, Kevin Bowler, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand, said: “The United States is a vital market for New Zealand leisure and business travel, and is a key focus for our marketing efforts given the significant potential for growth that exists." He added, "The timing of this new service is ideal as the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will heighten interest in New Zealand and no doubt whet Americans' appetite for travel here.”

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of a two-part fantasy-adventure film directed and produced by Peter Jackson, and based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel of the same name. It’s slated to release in mid-December.

Flight schedules and the start of ticket sales for the new Auckland service will be announced at a later date. For more information about Hawaiian Airlines, click here.